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A fire has erupted at Kuwait’s largest oil refinery with the state-owned oil company reporting a number of injuries.
Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) said that the blaze on October 18th at the Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery along Kuwait’s Persian Gulf coastline north of its border with Saudi Arabia did not affect its electrical supply or oil exports.
Watch: A fire breaks out in the atmospheric residue desulfurization (ARDS) unit of the Mina al-Ahmadi Refinery in #Kuwait after an explosion was heard in the area.https://t.co/599mzJxa9N pic.twitter.com/TkFDZRHxL2
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) October 18, 2021
حالياً حريق مصفاة الأحمدي في وحدة الـ ARD#القطاع_النفطي pic.twitter.com/5zFhxr43QG
— رصد و متابعة (@rsd_kwt) October 18, 2021
The atmospheric residue desulphurisation (ARDS) unit where the fire broke out was isolated and the fire has been fully brought under control, the state refiner said.
The KNPC said that those injured had received first aid at the site, or been transported to a hospital and were in “stable condition”.
وقع قبل قليل حريق في وحدة إزالة الكبريت من النفط المتبقي ARDS في مصفاة ميناء الأحمدي، وتقوم فرق الإطفاء في المصفاة حاليا بالتعامل مع الحريق، علما أنه لم تقع أي إصابات جراء الحادث. وسنوافيكم بمزيد من التفاصيل قريبا.
— البترول الوطنية | KNPC (@KNPCofficial) October 18, 2021
“The refinery operations and export operations were not affected and there has been no impact to local marketing operations and supplies to the electricity and water ministry,” KNPC said on its Twitter account.
It later added that a number of people had suffered minor injuries and that there were cases of suffocation due to the inhalation of fumes. It added that all those affected were in a stable condition, but some had been taken to a local hospital.
Residents in Kuwait’s coastal Fahaheel district reported hearing a large explosion and shared footage on social media of thick, black smoke billowing over the highway.
Kuwait, a nation home to 4.1 million people, has the world’s sixth-largest known oil reserves.
The Mina al-Ahmadi refinery, on a 10.5 square kilometre site, began operating in 1949.
It is the largest of three refineries of the state petrol company, producing about 466,000 barrels of petrol per day.
The oil-rich Gulf emirate produces about 2.4 million barrels of petrol per day, most of which is exported. It has the world’s sixth largest oil reserves.
In September, KNPC said it started full operation of a project to expand refining capacity and produce fuel that generates lower emissions, including expanding capacity of the Mina al-Ahmadi refinery to 346,000 barrels per day.
The current energy crisis relates less to oil, but it still affects it. The price could have potentially skyrocketed further if there was a disruption in production. However, operation of the refinery was not interrupted.
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kuwait was annexed by the british from Iraq in 1960. An artificial western “protectorate”.
Where was the “emir” of kuwait? Busy pumping one or more of his hideous harem?
He should have been out at the fire sight bare chested extinguishing all fires himself. Lazy slob of a british poodle.